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Armed Robbers Hit ACR's Harare Offices

The offices of African Consolidated Resources (ACR), a British firm locked in an ownership battle over the Chiadzwa diamond fields, have been robbed, the Voice of America (VOA) reported Wednesday. Men armed with AK47 assault rifles had robbed the Harare offices of ACR on Tuesday as the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe prepared to transport some 300,000 carats of disputed diamonds to the Reserve Bank.

Computers and a vehicle were stolen in what was described as a "brazen" robbery of the ACR offices, which is near the police headquarters in downtown Harare.

ACR and the government mineral corporation Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp. have been engaged in a broader ownership battle over the Chiadzwa diamond fields in the country's eastern Marange districts. Last week, Zimbabwe's Supreme Court has ordered the country's central bank to safeguard millions of dollars' worth of diamonds mined in Marange where the military is accused of killings and forced labor.

Jonathan Samkange, ACR's lawyer, told the VOA he believes the robbery was staged to intimidate the company and discourage it from pursuing its efforts to operate the controversial diamond field. Samkange said the diamonds will now be transferred to the bank in phases and conducted in secret.